Thursday, May 3, 2018

Bourdon Claude Dujardin Fouquier Le Sueur Poussin

Sébastien Bourdon
A Massacre of Christians
before 1671
drawing
National Galleries of Scotland

from Manifest Aversions, Conceptual Conundrums, & Implausibly Deniable Links

I am not a secular man, but in moments of crisis I turn to agnosticism for the comfort it gives in freeing me from superstition.  Once, when gravely ill and sure I would die at any minute, I embraced agnosticism, and, with Nietzsche in hand, swore I would remain an agnostic even if I recovered.  But once I did recover, I lapsed again into religious belief, feeling the danger was over and it was safe to return to my old ways.  Still, the fear of dying under the veil of dogma still grips my soul late at night and I yearn for the courage to embrace reality without prophylactics.

– Charles Bernstein (2009)

Sébastien Bourdon
The Annunciation
before 1671
etching
National Galleries of Scotland

Sébastien Bourdon
Levites ignoring the wounded man (from the story of the Good Samaritan)
ca. 1650-60
engraving
National Galleries of Scotland

Claude Lorrain
Rocky Landscape
ca. 1640-45
drawing
Teylers Museum, Haarlem

Claude Lorrain
Tall trees in the park of the Villa Madama, Rome
before 1682
drawing
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

Claude Lorrain
Wooded landscape
ca. 1640-45
drawing
Teylers Museum, Haarlem

from Jubilate Agno

Let Hillel rejoice with Ammodytes, whose colour is deceitful and he plots against the pilgrim's feet,
For the praise of God can give to a mute fish the notes of a nightingale.
Let Eli rejoice with Leucon – he is an honest fellow, which is a rarity.
For I have seen the White Raven and Thomas Hall of Willingham and am myself a greater curiosity than both.
Let Jemuel rejoice with Charadrius, who is from the height and the sight of him is good for the jaundice.
For I look up to heaven which is my prospect to escape envy by surmounting it.
Let Pharaoh rejoice with Anataria, whom God permits to prey upon the ducks to check their increase.
For if Pharaoh had known Joseph, he would have blessed God and me for the illumination of the people.
Let Lotan rejoice with Sauterelle.  Blessed be the name of the Lord from the Lote-tree to the Palm.
For I pray God to bless improvements in gardening until London be a city of palm-trees.
Let Dishon rejoice with the Landrail, God give his grace to the society for preserving the game.
For I pray to give his grace to the poor of England, that Charity be not offended and that benevolence may increase.
Let Hushim rejoice with the King's Fisher, who is of royal beauty, tho' plebeian size.
For in my nature I quested for beauty, but God, God hath sent me to sea for pearls.

– Christopher Smart (this fragmentary poem, of which more than 1700 lines survive, was composed ca. 1758-63, but remained unknown and unpublished until 1939)

Claude Lorrain
Landscape
ca. 1630
etching
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

Karel Dujardin
Seated man removing his boots
ca. 1657
drawing
Harvard Art Museums

Karel Dujardin
Study of long-haired young man
before 1678
drawing
Morgan Library, New York

Jacques Fouquier
Wooded landscape with pool
before 1659
drawing
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Eustache Le Sueur
Drapery study of Roman toga, and Study of hand
before 1655
drawing
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

from Syringa

The seasons are no longer what they once were,
But it is the nature of things to be seen only once,
As they happen along, bumping into other things, getting along
Somehow. That's where Orpheus made his mistake.
Of course Eurydice vanished into the shade;
She would have even if he hadn't turned around.
No use standing there like a gray stone toga as the whole wheel
Of recorded history flashes past, struck dumb, unable to utter an intelligent
Comment on the most thought-provoking element in its train.
Only love stays on the brain, and something these people,
These other ones, call life. Singing accurately
So that the notes mount straight up out of the well of
Dim noon and rival the tiny, sparkling yellow flowers
Growing around the brink of the quarry, encapsulates
The different weights of the things.

– John Ashbery (1977)

Nicolas Poussin
Riverbank scene with travelers and washerwomen
before 1665
drawing
National Galleries of Scotland

Nicolas Poussin
Mountain landscape
before 1665
drawing
National Galleries of Scotland

Nicolas Poussin
Dance to the Music of Time
ca. 1640
drawing
National Galleries of Scotland

Poems from the archives of Poetry (Chicago)